Ultimate Comics: X23
by Jorus C'baoth
Summary: The Ultimate version of X-23. Uses and overwrites Ultimate Comics: X. The story of Jimmy, Kitty and X-23 as they battle the forces of evil.
1. Chapter 1

_**Introduction**_

This is based on a dream. A dream I had during a period of illness. It's about the Ultimate version of X-23, created by myself, as a kid created using Wolverine and Jean Grey's DNA, and consequently, has their powers. The story takes place after the Ultimatum event and completely rewrites Ultimate Comics: X (which I've never read, but don't much like). I'll be using characters from X (primarily main character Jimmy Hudson) but that's it. The story is completely based upon my dream.

I'm going to put this out there so that people can either read the story based on its content or stop reading before it gets off. I want people to read this because it interests them. Ultimate Spider-Man and the characters related to him (and Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man) will be involved. My dream had a major revelation about Wolverine's death, but I'm not sure I'm going to bring it in to this story. Basically, he was still alive, because SHIELD had gotten some of his remains and let them incubate for a while and his healing factor took care of the resurrection. If anybody wants to see this, just give me a message or drop a line in a review.

The format will be this: every few chapters (between 2 and 6) will be a story arc. This is being written like an ongoing comic series. I'm toying with the idea of only posting one chapter a month (like a comic) but I don't know if that'll stick. It'll probably just be irregular. There will be annuals, there will be one-shots, I'll probably even do some mini series (not posted as this story) off to the side. The goal of this is to be a fanfic that emulates comic books. I hope it works, but after all the flak I got from _The DOOM Chronicles_ (only now being accepted for what it was meant to be), I'm not going to be surprised if it's just a big failure.

Well, we'll see how this goes, see how it ends up. Though I had the dream, I'm just as in-the-dark as you people are. I've been searching for inspiration to put something in the Ultimate Marvel universe for a while, and this just shot itself out at me. I hope you like it, I hope I like it. Let's just get on with it!


	2. Emergence, 1 of 3

_**Emergence: Part 1 of 3**_

Her name was Laura, that she knew, but that was all. She knew she wasn't normal, but she wasn't sure how exactly different she was. She looked in the mirror of the room she lived in and judged her appearance. Physically, she looked like a normal sixteen-year-old girl, slightly average look, shoulder-length black hair. The people who'd put her in the room had given her some clothes, appropriate for her age.

As she examined herself, blood dripped from between her knuckles on her left hand. She raised her hand in front of her face and watched as something began to push the skin out from. The skin split apart and three metal protrusions appeared from inside. They extended to a length of eight inches, then stopped. She felt something similar from her right hand. The claws—for some reason, her mind registered the word _claws_ with the protrusions in her hands—were covered in metal.

The door suddenly opened, a tall man in a trench coat with an eye-patch walked in, two people in black tights followed him. "Don't worry, girl, you're just fine." He grabbed her by the arm and pushed her onto the bed in the corner. "This is just what you are."

Laura thought for a second, and the claws disappeared within her skin. "What am I? Who are you?"

"My name is Nick Fury, head of SHIELD Spec Ops division. You are a mutant." Fury started picking at his nose. "A very special mutant."

As Laura looked at Fury, things started to unfold before her eyes. She saw memories. Memories of a shaggy-haired man in a tight black and yellow costume. As memories of this man appeared, Fury's voice spoke, though his mouth didn't move. _"If only this girl knew she was Wolverine's daughter."_

"Who's Wolverine?" she asked.

Fury's eye twitched. "How do you know about that?"

Laura chose her words carefully. "It... came from your mind."

"Telepathy?" Fury stood up and pulled a cell phone from his pocket. "Give me every bit of information you have on X-23. I want everything, understand?" Laura could hear a muted acknowledgment from the other end. He turned back to her. "Do you know what else you can do?"

"I don't know. I just learned what I was today. Right now."

Fury said nothing, he simply left the room, as did his goons.

Laura caught one last thought from Fury's head as he left the room. _"Damn it, Logan, why'd you have to have two kids."_

She may not have known much about herself, but _two kids_ meant only one thing: she had a sibling, a brother or sister, out there somewhere.

Laura woke up to an alarm later that night. An alarm, and a flashing red light that had emerged from the ceiling. As if on instinct, her claws extended. She waited for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Something didn't smell right, however, and for her, this was literal. The air smelled of carbon monoxide smoke, and something toxic.

She opened the door and looked out into the corridor outside her room. Several dozen soldiers ran through the corridor, all carrying assault rifles of some sort.

The last person to follow was wearing high-tech metal armor, completely silver in color. The man/machine (whatever it was) turned toward her. "Return to your room, ma'am," a deep voice said from inside the suit. "Everything's under control." After that, the armored man continued following the soldiers down the corridor.

Laura was intrigued. She followed the soldiers and the armored man into what appeared to be a large foyer, the entrance to the building. The soldiers were positioned on the upper floor, aiming their rifles down at the center, where a man larger than the armored man, with green skin, was standing. He seemed insanely angry, and corpses littered the floor around him. The armored man was standing in front of him.

"Banner, it's time for you to stop this," he said, holding his hand out as if giving assistance to a child. "You've killed enough people."

The green man—Banner—growled in anger, then shouted, "Hulk no listen to stupid Iron Man rip off!"

Laura pulled back behind a wall. Both names sent spikes through her brain. Hulk, a monster responsible for the deaths of eight hundred people in New York City four months ago. Iron Man, billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, made a suit of armor to keep himself alive.

A man in a lab coat—the universal sign for _doctor—_ducked into a room after making eye contact with Laura. She followed him and kicked the door open. The doctor was cowering in the corner, hiding behind a chair. She pulled the chair away and pulled the doctor to his feet. "You ran in here because you saw me, not the Hulk. What is it about me that has you so scared?"

"Could you p-put those c-c-c-claws away, please?"

She looked at her hands, then retracted her claws. "Sorry." She let him go. He sat down in the chair. "Now, tell me what you know about me."

He took off his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt. "You were called X-23. The twenty-third attempt at a clone of the mutant called Wolverine. The success was because they added the DNA of another mutant, Jean Grey. This lead to your being female." The doctor didn't appear scared anymore, he seemed as though he wanted to praise his work. "Thus, you have a multitude of mutant abilities: adamantium claws, an incredible healing factor, hyper-senses, telepathy and telekinesis."

_All this is inside me? _"Am I the only clone? Who's this other 'kid' Mr. Fury thought about?"

"General Fury has known for the child's entire life that Wolverine had a son, who he left with a friend in Florida. His name is Jimmy Hudson, he's your age."

_I have a brother. _"Where in Florida?"

Jimmy Hudson woke up, as he often did, on his roof. Unlike most times, however, he woke up to someone speaking to him. "Does he bite?" A girl's voice. New Yorker. He looked down at the ground and saw a knockout. Brown hair, green dress, sunglasses, tennis shoes. She was carrying a back pack.

"Who wants to know?"

She looked up at him. She didn't seem surprised that he was up there. "Me." She waved. "I'm Kitty. Kitty Pryde."

"Yeah, he bites." Jimmy jumped down. "He's an alligator."

"Is there a place we can talk where he can't bite? Specifically _me_?"

He laughed. "Why would I wanna do that?" He grabbed the shirt hanging from the clothesline, but he didn't button it up. "No matter where you are, he's gonna bite. It may not be you, but he'll still bite. Look, he bites at you, just kick him in the face. My dad's got him pretty well trained."

"Truth is, I don't wanna talk around your dad."

He scratched his head. "This have something to do with my little healing power?"

"Yeah."

"He's not even up yet. It's his day off."

James and Heather Hudson, with son Jimmy, lived in a small Florida town called Port St. Lucie. Laura didn't much care for it. It was the type of small town where everybody knew everybody else and nobody had a private life.

Though, when an amatuer telepath was walking through down the streets, nobody had a private life, anyway.

She was hearing almost everyone's thoughts. _"Miss Darla's got nice cans..."_ from one person, _"Gallon of milk, container of bread, stick of butter,"_ from another. She almost wished she taken those pills the doctor had offered, to temporarily suppress her telepathy until she got a hold of it.

"How are ya doing, little lady?" a man in a white suit, wearing a hat, asked as she passed him. _"What can I do for you, if you know what I mean?"_ his thoughts asked.

Laura turned around. "I have a question, can you tell me where Sherrif Hudson lives?"

"Sherrif Hudson? Trailer park on the edge of town." _"What the hell would you want to know that for? I could show you the best time in town."_

She thanked him and walked started in the direction of the trailer park. Something felt familiar about the place. The trailer park was filled to the brim, some single trailers, other double-wides. One in particular leapt out at her—one with a giant H on the mailbox. A blonde-haired guy, about 5'6'' was talking to a girl of the same height, with long brown hair, wearing a green dress.

_Kitty Pryde, _her brain registered the name. _One good thing to being a clone: I don't have to meet certain people. My dad already knew 'em, so do I._

Laura walked over to the couple and asked, "You Jimmy Hudson?"

"I must be a real popular guy, two good-looking girls checking me out after a bad date last night."

"Who are you?" Kitty asked.

"I'm Laura. I don't know my last name, but, I'm... I don't really know how to say this... I'm related to you."

"How do you not know your last name?" he asked.

She weighed the choices of what to tell him. She finally decided to spill part of it out: "I'm a clone."

"Of my real dad? Of Wolverine?"

"Yeah."

"Wow," Kitty took her sunglasses off, "does that make you, like, twins?"

Laura shrugged. "Not exactly. He's really Wolverine's son, and I'm a mixed clone of him and Jean Grey."

"Jean? You've got part of her in you, too?"

She nodded. "Just her powers, really, but that's part of the reason I'm female. I've got both their powers."

"So," Jimmy said, extending his claws, "you got these, too?"

"Yeah." Laura extended hers. They were slightly shorter than his, but not by much. She was slightly shorter than him, as well. What she'd learned of her genetic father over the past few days, he, too, was a short person. _Must run in the family, _she thought. "But mine are covered in metal, not just bone."

"Mine can be, too," he said, and a fluid-like metal seeped from his knuckles and covered the claws. "I just have to think about it, first."

Kitty finally asked the obvious question. "Why are you here?"

Laura sighed. "I read Nick Fury's mind, and found—"

"Fury? _Fury_ had you?"

"Yeah. I think SHIELD made me. They know about you, too, Jimmy."

"Who's SHIELD?" he asked. "Some government group?"

"Yeah. They deal with metahumans—super heroes, mutants, super villians, the Fantastic Four. All sorts of stuff," Kitty answered. "And Nick Fury is one of the most... I dunno, _determined_ people I've met. He won't stop until he's got what he wants." She turned toward Laura. "Was there any evidence that SHIELD made you?"

"A doctor there knew a lot about me. Fury called me X-23. That doctor said I was the twenty-third attempt to clone Wolverine."

"And SHIELD knows you're gone?"

"Yeah."

"If they talked to that doctor," Jimmy piped in, "they knew you're coming here, too."

A new voice entered the conversation. "Which is why you three are coming in here." Laura looked at the house and saw a man in green police gear standing in the doorway. "Fury'll probably be here in five minutes, now that he knows you're all three together."

"Dad, you know about all this?" Jimmy asked.

"Been meaning to tell you about it for years, son. I'm sorry."


	3. Emergence, 2 of 3

_**Emergence: Part 2 of 3**_

_**Author's Note: **_This is just a small message to anybody who reads my stuff. I used to pick a day and make that "story update day", but it's been getting increasingly difficult to do that. From now on, chapters will just be posted when they're finished, which is hopefully soon after the previous chapter was finished.

Jimmy led Kitty and Laura into his room while his dad waited for Nick Fury outside. Kitty sat down on the bed while Laura stayed by the window. She seemed insanely paranoid. She was also quite easy on the eyes. She had a little resemblance to Wolverine, but mostly, she was just hot.

"I don't think it's a good idea to be in here," she said.

"You that paranoid?" Kitty asked.

"I think it comes from him."

"Wolverine _was_ awfully paranoid. I guess it could run in the family. Are _you_ paranoid?" she asked Jimmy.

He shrugged. "Not really. Small town, no reason to be. That, plus my dad's the sherrif, so he kinda strong-arms people for me."

Jimmy stood up and walked out into the kitchen. His mom was standing there, a worried look on her face. She smiled as he walked into the room. He just cut to the chase. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Her smile disappeared. "We were afraid to, sweetie. Afraid you'd run off, try to find your father."

"Wolverine may be my father, but James Hudson's my dad. And you're my mom."

"What about that girl? The quieter one? She's his clone, right? That's what your dad said."

"Yeah. And, I guess, that kinda makes her like my sister, but, I don't really know anything about her. _She_ doesn't really know anything about her."

His mom was looking right past him. Jimmy turned around and saw Laura was standing right there, a concerned look in her eyes. "If you guys don't want me here, I'll gladly go back to Fury and SHIELD."

"You're not going back to that man at all, dear," his mom said. "From what your father told James and I about him, he's not worth the dirt under the ground he walks on. If we have to take you in, we will." she smirked. "I did always want a girl."

Jimmy smirked as well. "Even over me?"

"Oh, you're just so unruly, I've wanted a girl since you went through puberty."

"She belongs to SHIELD, Mr. Hudson. And Logan might have told you different, but so does Jimmy." Fury scratched his chin, then spit out some chewing gum. "Even if they didn't, both are unregistered mutants, and need to be handed in to the government."

"I'm not giving them to you, Fury. Jimmy's my boy. And as for Laura, well, I'd say she's better off with a family and not as some assassin for you."

Fury tilted his head slightly. "I don't think you heard me, Hudson, Laura and Jimmy belong to SHIELD."

James Hudson narrowed his eyes. "I don't think you heard _me_, Fury. Jimmy and Laura don't work for you, don't like you, don't belong to you. I don't like you either, and I'm gonna have to ask you to leave. You're not the director of SHIELD anymore, I won't hesitate to call your supervisor."

"I'm sure Director Danvers will see things my way. She's not a big fan of mutants or teenage super-freaks." He got in James' face. "You've got five minutes to tell those three—'cause I know Pryde is in there, too—and then I'm comin' in, got it?"

James shrugged. "Fine. He walked inside and saw the three kids were sitting in Jimmy's room. Laura stood when he entered the room. "Pack a bag, quick. You three are getting out of here."

Laura was surprised by what Mr. Hudson had meant. Underneath Jimmy's bed was a trap door. Through the trap door was a tunnel. Jimmy, Laura and Kitty were going to be smuggled out of the house before Fury had a chance to take them back to the Triskelion.

"Thank you," she said before hopping down into the hole. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

Mr. Hudson smiled. "Sweetheart, I've known you all of five minutes. You take care of yourself, and you take care of my boy." He chuckled for a second. "You're a lot like your father, y'know. No kinder man existed than James Howlett. Of course, if you're even more like him, you'll also be the worst nightmare anybody who crosses you has ever known."

Laura smiled as well, then hopped down the hole. Kitty was already down there, and Jimmy was saying his goodbyes to his family. She hoped some day she'd have a family that loved her as much as Jimmy's loved him. Of course, love was a double-edged sword: your enemies could use it against you.

_That's your father's Weapon X training talking, Laura. Listen to your own heart, not his head._

_Who is talking to me?_

Three minutes and ten seconds was long enough to wait. Fury pushed the door open and walked into the house. Only Heather Hudson was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. He walked into Jimmy's room, saw no one. The three kids were gone. He wasn't pleased.

Hudson had walked into the kitchen and joined his wife. He had a smile on his face. "What did you do, Hudson?" Fury asked.

"What's the matter, Fury? Can't find them?"

Fury turned to Barton and said, "Take them in." He turned back to Hudson. "Now your kids are fugitives from the government, Mr. Hudson. And them being fugitives makes you our only leverage."

"Leverage?" Heather stood up, spilling her coffee. "You plan on using us against Jimmy and Laura?"

"Using you? Of course not. Getting it out of you, on the other hand..." He turned to Hawkeye and nodded. Barton cracked his knuckles. "James, Heather, meet Clint Barton, codename: Hawkeye. He's the other hand."

Kitty bid them farewell after they got out of town. Laura was both disappointed and pleased. Pleased because it would be easier for two people to hide together than three. Disappointed because Laura was starting to get a long with her. It was saddening to have to leave someone who was becoming a friend.

Jimmy almost seemed happy to be away from his parents. Either that, or he hadn't been out of his town before. He was checking out every pot hole and dirt mound around, usually with his claws.

Laura sat down on a rock and took a moment to think. She was travelling with her 'brother', SHIELD was after them, her new adoptive parents were probably in SHIELD custody. For someone like Laura, who'd only been born recently with absolutely no family, the loss of your new family so quickly was quite disheartening.

"I think we're somewhere near Miami," Jimmy said, walking up to her. "Big place, Miami. It should be safe to hide there for a little while, right?"

"Why are you asking me? I've never been there."

"Yeah, but you've got, y'know, _his_ knowledge in your head, right? Didn't they train him on where to hide in a bad situation?"

"Dark alleys, old apartments, grocery stores, the like."

"Grocery stores?"

"Public place."

"Oh. Dad says that most perps don't go to public places."

"Yeah, but you live in a small town. Most crimes in small towns are personal, and, I'm sorry, but isn't pretty much everywhere in a small town a public place?"

"Oh, we get lots of privacy. Then we've gotta tell people afterward. I'm sure after my little stunt yesterday, everybody in town probably knows I'm a mutant."

Laura decided to ask what had been rattling around her head. "Why are mutants outlawed?"

"Huh?"

"I heard your dad mention something about mutants being outlawed."

"Oh. Month or so ago, the planet was screwed up by this strong mutant called Magneto, or something like that. After that, everybody hated mutants. They passed a law saying mutants couldn't use their powers anymore."

"What about, like, healing factors?"

"You've got one, too?"

"Yeah."

"I dunno. I can't see how they can outlaw something that just happens on its own."

"So, mutants are forbidden to use their powers, SHIELD is trying to capture me and you because of our connection to Wolverine, your parents are probably gonna be bait for us—"

"Wait, _what_? Bait? What do you mean?"

"Sorry. Sometimes I forget you're not like me. I forget you're actually his biological son and I'm just his clone. Wolverine's memories of Nick Fury, the guy with the patch, aren't exactly good ones. He kidnaps people for his own use, he studies things he can't control, which end up causing mass destruction, the list from those memories goes on and on. The few positive memories about Fury are really cryptic."

"So, you mean that he took Mom and Dad and are gonna use them to try and get us?"

"Yeah. I think." Laura lowered her head. "Sorry to get you upset."

Jimmy shook his head. "Not your fault. I just... my parents are..."

"Special?"

"Yeah."

"I can't say I know the feeling, but I understand."

Nick Fury hated being run around by some dumbass people who were breaking so many laws it was insane. Nick Fury had served in World War Two. He had been used as a test subject for the very project that created Captain America. He had led SHIELD through alien invasions, terrorist invasions and mutant attacks.

Somehow, two normal people were keeping him from what he wanted. And he hated that more than anything.

James Hudson was drinking coffee on the other side of the table. His handcuffs rattled every time he moved. "Lovely day, isn't it?" he said, looking out the window in the room they occupided in the Triskelion. "I don't know much about Laura, but Jimmy thrives on days like this. He's so damn out the door that by the time I get to it, I can't even see him."

Fury took a sip of his own drink. "Hudson, I'm not askin' much. Give me Jimmy and Laura, and you can go free. That tunnel led three miles outside your little home town, but we don't know where the kids went. Give us where they were headed."

"I can't. I don't know. Knowing Jimmy, since he hasn't exactly left town much, he'll probably want to explore everything around him."

Fury leaned forward. "For your sake, you better hope not."


End file.
